Element
by Morgana Maeve
Summary: Axel.Vexen: There is never enough time.


Element

Morgana Maeve

8/4/08 – Axel/Vexen. At least this one has a slight fan base.

Warnings: Alluded geezer action. My mind is a sick, sick place.

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters who come from Kingdom Hearts. Lawyers can go screw off.

oOo

The first meeting is in a room of white, and that is fitting, for his element is ice. He stands, arms crossed over black-clad chest, staring up at thrones, towering so pretentiously over the little half-lives that occupy them. His frown cannot decide whether it wants to be livid or painfully amused, and so, he settles for twisted resignation. But he continues to stand there in hopes that somebody will notice him.

And somebody does.

Or rather, Nobody does.

The Nobody listens, nods and sighs on cue, and waves his hand airily at the thrones, agreeing that yes, it is unfair that the oldest member of the Organization should receive the smallest throne and that yes, the Superior should take seniority into consideration.

They meet again later that week, or perhaps they meet again earlier that week, for time is slippery in The World That Never Was, and sometimes, it moves forward by stepping back.

Vexen is in his basement, test tubes and Bunsen burners belching horrible-smelling steam that collects at the ceiling and leaves faint soot marks. Axel lounges in a corner and watches through gleaming eyes as potions are mixed and ethers are created, bubbling concoctions that spit sparks.

Vexen doesn't like to be watched, and he tells Axel this more than once a day, but Axel doesn't care, and Vexen eventually learns to deal with it. And so, Axel is gradually allowed to help with some minor experiments.

But two months before – or is it two months after? – Vexen is sent to Castle Oblivion to keep the rampant Marluxia in check, and Axel soon follows, the trump card designed to throw the game if losing becomes a possibility. One is confined to the basement again, ceaselessly tossing out potions and elixirs, and the other wanders the upper floors, wondering when this grand scheme will all fall down.

The cracks begin when the Keyblade master is drawn to the scent of darkness, or maybe the cracks have always been there, just waiting to be uncovered. Whatever the case may be, the light is beginning to shine in places best kept in dark, and the shadows slowly come undone.

The upper floors already have their hands full, trying to control an invader who knows not what he does, and the basement must now contend with what the boy brings, fragment of the Superior that refuses to fade.

And that's when Vexen begins to unravel.

Axel doesn't know when he realizes this, but somehow, over night or over day, Vexen's eyes become just bit bigger, just a bit brighter, and then the madness takes over. Instead of brews of mysterious workings, he hammers away at something metal and flesh, babbling about respect and power, and Axel watches, foot shaking in anxiety.

The grand plan is coming to an end.

The cracks are widening into gulfs.

The light continues to burn and destroy.

One by one, they all die, rooms made from piecemeal memories flourishing on nothing floors. And Axel runs between worlds, tying to mend all that is wrong and still follow orders, still trying to appeal to three and half sides.

Vexen knows. Vexen knows everything. Axel tells him, and Vexen laughs and prattles on about respect and lack thereof, and Axel watches as the oldest Nobody loses sight of the darkness and disappears into that messy world of unfeeling light, where souls and hearts barter for who can cause the most damage.

But perhaps it's not Vexen surrendering to this madness. Perhaps it is Even coming back for an encore, stirred into wakefulness by a young boy's heart.

And that's when things start happening.

As the floors begin to fall up and twilight comes crashing down, Axel eases open the door to Vexen's laboratory and slips in. Tables overturn and test tubes lurch, and Axel finds himself pinned to the floor, hands pinned beneath hands, knees forcing legs open wide.

What happens next is not pleasant, but oddly enough, it is fulfilling, and Axel fights his way to the top. The unwanted is there, and so is the pain, but _gods, what else is there to do in such insanity?_

Vexen is cold cold cold, so chilling that icicles form and splinter, and Axel doesn't know what to do. Hot and cold, rough and gentle, love and lust, want and need, what is all that to a Nobody but empty words? What does it mean in a castle that is destined to fall, in a world where time ticks back to show the future?

The simple answer is nothing. And that is what they are.

Vexen finally goes too far, dragging the rest of floors into a crazed battalion, and Marluxia has finally had enough. The ace of spades had been drawn, and the game must be thrown now before the losses can be tallied. It is time for checkmate.

And so, in a world of red like freshly spilled blood, the mad scientist faces an innocence so corrupted it is pure, and the trump card is played. All the pretty plans, so eloquent on paper, have shattered, and Axel must burn the pieces so no one else can know. There is no time to pick up the scattered fragments and try to right all the wrongs that have so horribly grown into a castle of death and dust. There is time for just this.

That harbinger of such unfelt pain stands before locked gates that he remembers but can't, addled mind stretched to the breaking point. If there was only a little more time… But all the time has slipped to the bottom of the hourglass, and there is no one left to turn it over.

Vexen is mad, utterly mad, completely lost in his twisted mind, and so, when Axel sends his flaming chakram flying into Vexen's empty chest, he feels nothing. Maybe it's part of being a Nobody. Or maybe it's because this is no longer Vexen. Vexen is gone.

Vexen feels the heat begin to gather in his chest, and there is Axel, arm up, smiling, the red joker that pops up where it shouldn't. Snap of the fingers, and the fiery explosion billows out, hot hot hot, filling that aching hole with something infinitely more tender. And just like that, nonexistence is ended in beautiful non-death, and innocence is lost until the memory can be smothered.

The last meeting is in a town of orange sunset, and that is fitting, for his element is fire.

oOo

Go to Youtube and type in 'Vexen's death.' It's worse than what happened in 'Chain of Memories.' Poor Vexen, he has no respect.

Read and review if you want. I'd appreciate it.


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